More troops to be sent to West Bank village besieged by Israeli settlers

The stated aim of the settlers is to empty the area of its Palestinian residents.Settlements are illegal under international law, but the Israeli government has promoted their recent rapid expansion.The Palestinian village mayor, Abdel Azim Wadi, told the BBC that local residents had seen "a clear and sustained pattern of targeting Qusra". Last month a newly completed mosque was set on fire with graffiti in Hebrew sprayed nearby.That settler attack was one of many that followed on from an incident in the Palestinian village of Tal. After Israeli settlers attacked Tal, it triggered an escalation in which six people were killed - four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers – one of whom acted as a security coordinator for a nearby Israeli settlement.In July, settlers also surrounded a Palestinian home in the village of Jalud, near Qusra, for more than two weeks. Afterwards, the owners fled and settlers took over the property where they remain until now.According to the UN's figures, 76 Palestinians – including 18 children - have been killed in the West Bank this year, by Israeli forces or settlers. At the same time, three Israelis – including one civilian – were killed in confrontations with Palestinians and in an alleged ramming attack by a Palestinian in the West Bank.Since January 2023, 127 Palestinian communities in the West Bank have experienced full or partial displacement, including 47 that have been entirely displaced, affecting more than 6,390 Palestinians, the UN says.